Milner was named for merchant and banker F. E. Milner who settled here in 1898. The town served as supply headquarters for surrounding coal mines for over 50 years. Well before cattle ranching became the county's major industry and well before any other farmers in the area, the Hitchens brothers, James, Billy and Joe, began to raise grain in the area in the early 1900's.

The Moffat Road arrived in Milner in 1910, three years after F. E. Milner imported the town's first automobile from Denver. The town sported a store and recreation hall, barber shop, bakery and school by 1912.

Today Milner is a residential community and is experiencing growth with new residentail development.

Source: The Historical Guide to Routt County, copyright 1979 by The Tread of Pioneers Museum